Brooke Allison

It was a dark and stormy night...well, not really. It was actually a sunny July morning.  A Tuesday morning to be exact.  I started logging my contractions at 8:40 a.m.  These pains have been pretty much a daily occurrence for the last two months. Some days I had a few pains here and there, other days there were more.  There were a few days where I had five or six in an hour; only to have them decrease during the next hour.

So, I was not too anxious on Tuesday, July 15th. The contractions stayed at about ten minutes apart until 10:00 a.m. By 11:30 a.m. they were at about six minutes.  Mom and I had been texting on and off during the morning. We originally planned to meet for lunch, but Brooke had another plan.

Around 11:30 a.m., I asked mom if she could come over and drive me to the hospital.  I called my mother-in-law and asked her if she could pick up Isaac.  Finally, I called Eric and informed him of what was happening. He needed to wrap things up at work and head out to Danville.

        My in-laws arrived at noon and picked Isaac up; he was excited to get to go with Nanner and Big Guy, which was a huge relief for me.  It would have been much more difficult if he had been afraid or anxious about what was happening. Mom got to our house just minutes later and we were off to the hospital.  The drive seemed longer than normal; partly due to being in pain and partly due to the insane Avon traffic.  There is construction on 10th Street AND 21st Street right now, so Rockville Road is the "main drag" so to speak. The ironic part of this whole thing is that it truly is a drag...every moment...every day. Sigh. Oh, did I mention that Old 36 (or whatever that road is called now) is currently crowded because of the Hendricks County Fair...so, yeah, quite the traffic kerfuffle.

Construction + Contractions = Longest Drive Ever!

During the drive to Hendricks Regional Health, my contractions moved to three minutes apart.  The nurses took us to a delivery room and were doing everything in record time.  However, record time actually feels like time is standing still in the midst of pain. By this time, it's only about 1 p.m.; just about an hour has passed since Mom picked me up, but it seemed like such a long time.

I will fully admit that by now, I was not being very quiet.  As a matter of fact, I was pretty much begging for an epidural, and just praying to see the wonderful individual who would administer it, walk through the door. It seemed like this guy would never get to my room!

 The contractions were pretty wicked and it was impossible for me to stay in one place.  I moved to my back, then to my side, then sat up, then kneeled on the bed...it was impossible for me to be still. At one point, I was sitting up and basically draped over Mom. I realized that I was basically kneading and pulling on her shirt and, at the same moment, couldn't have stopped even if she had requested it. Later I was actually amazed that I didn't rip the shirt right off of her back.

There was a massage therapist who came in to try and help alleviate my back pain; she was wonderful and very helpful, I was just in pain and wasn't being a very good patient.

At one point she said in a very calm southern voice, "You are okay.  We are right here with you."

My response to her was, "That doesn't help me at all!"

As I said...not a very good patient.  I remember asking repeatedly if the epidural was ready arrived yet.  Mom kept reassuring me that it was on its way, that he (the anesthesiologist) was just outside the door.  I finally yelled, "No he's not. He's never coming!"  A little dramatic maybe?  Yes, I think I was.

Finally...finally the anesthesiologist, Dave, comes in and administered the epidural.  It was a much-anticipated relief. I don't even remember the process of getting the epidural, I don't remember the pain of the needle at all. The labor pain finally went away and I stopped screaming in pain. Just then, Eric walks in.  He missed the good stuff once again!  Not quite fair I think. When I went into labor with Isaac, Eric was at work. He arrived at the hospital after that epidural as well. He has never really gotten to experience a wife in full labor. Both times he walked into a calm and peaceful room, probably thinking,
"Why do people say this is so difficult? This isn't bad at all." He's never said that of course, just my take.

The crazy thing is that by the time Eric got there, the epidural was still in the process of kicking in and I could only feel a strong pressure in my abdomen and back, but I could still feel my legs and wiggle my toes.  I almost didn't get a chance to get my epidural, but I did! Two pushes later, at 2:08 p.m., Brooke Allison was born.  She weighed 6 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches long.

She has dark brown hair, it is unbelievable. She is absolutely beautiful, she looks just like Isaac did when he was born; the only big difference is the hair.  Isaac had light brown hair that was very fine and not quite so noticeable, it almost had a red tint to it.  She came out with a shriek. One of the nurses said she had never heard a baby make that particular noise. The doctor placed her on my stomach and I held her for a short time before she had to go under the warmer. She is so small and needed to be kept warm. She was under the warmer for quite a long time before she got her first bath. The nurse washed Brooke off while she was under the warmer and Brooke did not like the arrangement at all.

      After we were moved to a different room, Eric's parents came to meet Brooke and bring Isaac to see his new sister.  He walked in the room and it seemed like he had grown up so much since noon when I saw him last.

He is suddenly such a big boy.  Everything about him seemed more mature. It was unreal. He crawled up by me and kissed Brooke and hugged her.  It was too sweet.  He eventually found that my hospital bed had some very interesting buttons and he spent a great deal of time lowering and raising the bed and turning the lights on and off above the bed.  

 It is so amazing that we have two beautiful babies.  Isaac is a wild tornado full of energy.  He never stops moving; from the moment he wakes up until he goes to bed, he is exploring and trying to figure everything out. Brooke is, so far, calm and easy-going.  She sleeps most of the time and only cries if she is hungry or wet.  She doesn't really even bat an eye when Isaac races through the living room yelling and stomping.  They are so different and it's hard to believe they both came from the same two parents.

Thank You Lord for two beautiful babies!